Before GTA V: 5 Ways Grand Theft Auto Changed Gaming

Grand Theft Auto is quite possibly the most recognisable name in gaming. Fewer franchises garner such interest or and hearsay before a game even launches. While Grand Theft Auto IV had its fair share of detractors, V is spawning so much interest that it may even, shock-horror, beat Call Of Duty: Ghosts this year in terms of sales (even if Rockstar aren’t chancing by releasing two months prior).

Although, how did it get so big? And how did it change everything within the medium? If you are a younger reader you perhaps were not alive for the rise of Grand Theft Auto in the pop culture. It is mentioned in all of our history books, and despite just being a fine game, how did it all end up this way?. With excitement at a fever pitch after the triple character trailer hit the other day, it seems as good a time as any to start considering what made GTA so important to the medium. Allow me to get reflective and consider why we care about Rockstar’sflag ship game so much

6. Violence

Controversy and GTA go hand in hand. Since day one the game has come under constant threats from political and social opponents. It is debatable that the game may not have asuch a massive or dedicated following if not for its notoriety. This is mostly down to the games violence and ethics.

See, violence is a funny thing in games. GTA was by no means the worst when it came to violence in video games, even when it first came out. But GTA was probably the first to use it in a satirical way and thus giving it an artistic context. It was the first game that wanted to try and tell a story wrapped in these features and opened many doors for other developers. Now violence and ill morales could be used to craft stories and were no longer a taboo subject. The video game market went from being a series of bleep bloops to crunches and grinds pretty quickly. As I said, there was a fair share of violence in Video Games before hand that had kicked up its own controversy before GTA. But no game opened the floodgates, angered the detractors and captured the imagination of the public quite like the violence in GTA did.

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Patrick Dane is someone who spends too much of his time looking at screens. Usually can be seen pretending he works as a film and game blogger, short film director, PA, 1st AD and scriptwriter. Known to frequent London screening rooms, expensive hotels, couches, Costa coffee and his bedroom. If found, could you please return to the internet.